Mumia Abu-Jamal “Some Who Feel No Reason For Thanksgiving”

To this day, I can hardly bear to think of that quintessentially American holiday—Thanksgiving.

When I do, however, I do not dwell on Pilgrims with wide black hats sitting to sup with red men, their long hair adorned with eagle feathers. I think not of turkeys or of cranberries, foods now traditional for the day of feast.

Unlike millions, I dont even think of the days football game. And not thinking of it, I dont watch it.

I think of the people we have habitually called Indians, the Indigenous people of the Americas; those millions who are no more.

I think of those precious few who remain, and wonder, what do they think of this day; this national myth of sweet brotherhood that masks what can only be called genocide?

Several years ago, I read a thin text that was pregnant with poignancy. It was a collection of Native remarks from the first tribes who encountered whites in New England, and down through several hundred years. Throughout it all, the same vibration could be felt, no matter what the clan or tribe—a profound sense of betrayal and wrong from people who were treated like brethren when they first arrived.

In New England, the name Powhatan (ca. 1547-1618) is still recalled (even if that wasn’t his name, but what the English called him). Known as Wahunsonacock by his people, he headed a confederacy of 32 tribes and governed an area of hundreds of miles. He was the father of Pocahontas, the young Indian maiden who saved the life of Capt. John Smith. A year after sparing Smiths life, the white captain threatened the great chief. This is some of his response given in 1609:

Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? We can hide our provisions, and fly into the woods; and then you must consequently famish by wronging your friends. What is the cause of your jealousy? You see us unarmed, and willing to supply your wants, if you come in a friendly manner, and not with swords and guns, as to invade an enemy. I am not so simple, as not to know it is better to eat good meat, lie well, and sleep quietly with my women and children; to laugh and be merry with the English; and, being their friend, to have copper, hatchets, and whatever else I want, than to fly from all, to lie cold in the woods, feed upon acorns, roots, and such trash, and to be so hunted, that I cannot rest, eat, or sleep. In such circumstances, my men must watch, and if a twig should but break, all would cry out, Here comes Capt. Smith; and in this miserable manner, to end my miserable life; and, Capt. Smith, this might be soon your fate too, through your rashness and unadvisedness. I therefore, exhort you to peaceable councils; and, above all, I insist that the guns and swords, the cause of all our jealousy and uneasiness, be removed and sent away. (Blaisdell, Bob, ed., Great Speeches by Native Americans. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Press, 2000, p.4.)

That great chiefs sentiments would be echoed for over hundreds of years, but injustice would just be piled on injustice. Genocide would be the white answer to red life.

Centuries later, what can Thanksgiving Day mean to Native peoples?

Thank you for stealing our land? Thank you for wiping out our people?

Thank you for placing a remnant of our once great numbers on rural ghettoes called reservations?

Thank you for abolishing most of the ancient traditions?

Thank you for poisoning what little Indian lands remain with uranium?

Thank you for poisoning the lands now inhabited by the whites?

Thank you for letting Indians fight in American wars against other people?

Thanks.

The real tragedy is that millions of Americans don’t know, and don’t want to know about Indian history and traditions.

Today, the names of rivers, lakes and landmarks bear indigenous markers of another age.

The people, except for an occasional movie, are mostly forgotten, out of mind, the easier to replace with false images of happy meals and turkey dinners. Happy Thanksgiving.

Check out Mumia’s NEW book:
“Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People” at http://africanworld.com/

“When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it–at that moment you begin to die. And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice.”
– Mumia Abu-Jamal

“Columbus was a wétiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psychological disease, the wétiko psychosis. The Native people he described were sane people with a healthy state of mind. Sanity or healthy normality among humans and other living creatures involves a respect for other forms of life and other individuals. I believe that is the way people have lived (and should live). The wétiko psychosis, and the problems it creates, have inspired many resistance movements and efforts at reform or revolution. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have failed because they have never diagnosed the wétiko as an insane person whose disease is extremely contagious.” —Jack D. Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals

. Thank you to Quiqui Lee, Opata Apache photographer, for sharing these incredible photos with Censored News. To publish these photos, contact her at Quiquilee@hotmail.com At St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon, activists spent 40 hours suspended blocking the icebreaking ship hired by Shell to begin its Arctic drilling. Police and Coast Guard moved in to r […]

Photo Dan Bacher: Chief Caleen Sisk at the protest against the Delta Tunnels in front of the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento on July 28. More photos at: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/07/30/18775549.php Protesters sing, wave signs and blast Delta tunnels at "open house' by Dan Bacher Censored News As consultants and state and federal […]

(Photo above) "We're hiding from the sun, it's really hot today. Please feel free to contact us if you'd like to donate a canopy! By Nihigaal bee lina Censored News CORTEZ, Colo. -- Today in Cortez! Please come out if you are in the area. We will be discussing border town violence, environmental racism, economic development, capitalism, a […]

Second Grade of the Zapatista Little School English Espanol ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION MEXICO July 27, 2015 To the National and International Sixth: To the former students of the Zapatista Little School: Compas: The date for the second grade (only for those who passed the first) of the Zapatista Little School is approaching. As we had previously […]

Ayotzinapa: The Missing 43 Censored News regrets that Frontera NorteSur will cease publishing due to a lack of funding. Journalist Kent Paterson and FNS have been a voice for human rights and justice, and for the voiceless, dying, and disappeared. This voice will be missed on the border. -- Brenda Norrell Dear FNS News Readers:It is with great regret that I […]

The police murder of an Anonymous member in Dawson Creek B.C., James McIntyre, who was supporting the Treaty 8 battle against Site C dam, and now the unfolding secrets involving the Keystone XL pipeline, reveal the importance of the ongoing Native battles to protect the land, water and air for future generations. -- Censored News Read today's news arti […]

Censored News photos through the years. Google Blogger bullying the little people: Take down order and more for Censored News By Brenda Norrell Censored News Censored News is a small operation, a labor of love. It is a service to Indigenous Peoples and human rights advocates. So why the bullying from Google Blogger, where I have been posting for the last ni […]

By Brenda Norrell Censored News Anonymous in Canada is now releasing documents following the police shooting of James McIntyre, jaymack9. The Anonymous member had posted on Twitter that he would be at the Dawson Creek meeting that night to support the Treaty 8 battle against Site C dam. He was shot by police when he arrived. Now Anonymous is releasing spy d […]

By Brenda Norrell Censored News The US attempted to cover up the US police murders while testifying before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in May. The countries of the world made it clear that they knew the facts. Now, these police murders, and deaths in jail, are increasing -- at least the reporting of these is increasing. A judge has now ordered mi […]

. By Brenda Norrell Censored News Google has enforced a takedown order on Censored News and removed this article from Censored News: 'Canadian police kill Anonymous member defending Native land from dam.' Google has not provided the specifics as to why it was removed. Meanwhile, there are many articles on the web with the same information. The […]

Apache Stronghold grandmothers terrified Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar this week when they came to his office door at the US Captiol. Gosar called the cops on them. By Brenda Norrell Censored News English/French French translation by Christine Prat Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar -- who called the cops on Apache Stronghold grandmothers who came to his US Capitol office -- […]

The Dine' walkers are walking through Beclabito today. Join them Saturday in Shiprock to hear more about their walk to the Sacred Mountains and the need to protect the land, water and air for future generations.

- Rest in Eternal Peace Lakota Gall Brightman By Quanah Parker Brightman Lakota Brightman of Pinole, California died unexpectedly on Friday July 3rd, 2015 in Richmond California. His cause of death was murder. He was 45 years old. Lakota Gall Brightman was born on December 25th 1969 in Rapid City, South Dakota to parents Lehman and Trudy Brightman. He was th […]

With great sadness and respect for a powerful life, we share that Elder Matriarch relocation resister, Ida Mae Clinton, of Star Mountain, has passed onto the spirit world. With the permission of her family, we share this video–made by NaBahe Katenay Keedihiihii this spring–in memory of Ida Mae’s life. Her family sends appreciation to all […]

Below is the letter that the community members impacted by impoundments delivered today at the Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock: Requesting immediate Support for so-called “Hopi Partition Land ( HPL)” residents whose livestock are being impounded by Hopi Rangers and Federal Agents. The Hopi rangers and Federal agents used military tactic operati […]

All funds raised will go directly to Dineh families on the Black Mesa ‘HPL’ lands who have been aggressively targeted with livestock impoundments starting on October 22, 2014. Click here for donation page So far, three Black Mesa families have had their entire herds of sheep & goats impounded and are facing fees totaling about […]

Clarence and Mary Lou Blackrock of Cactus Valley are sitting up all night by the fire, unable to sleep for fear of their sheep being taken. This distress endangers the elder’s health. This family wanted these pictures shared so that the world can see the suffering at the hands of the federal government and Department […]

Hopi Rangers arrested two individuals and impounded 120 sheep this morning at the homesite of Tom and Etta Begay in Red Willow Springs. Heavily armed rangers guarded and blocked nearby dirt road entrances as well. “The Hopi Rangers came for our homestead early this morning. They tried to arrest my Aunt Etta who is almost […]

UPDATE from HPL (Hopi Partition Land) residents: Shirley Tohannie and elder Caroline Tohannie had their entire herd of 65 sheep impounded by the Hopi Rangers (US federal government) Tuesday, October 22, 2014.If the fines aren’t paid the sheep will go to auction, and the family is being told that the sheep will not be able […]

*******BMIS is in the process of updating our contacts. In order to keep receiving updates from BMIS, please confirm your information here. Thank you!! ***** “This land is being taken away because they’ve got power in Washington. We were put here with our Four Sacred Mountains and we were created to live here. We know […]

Thanks so much for getting the word out about the Big Mountain Training Camp and helping to honor 40 years of Dineh resistance to cultural genocide, forced relocation, and large-scale coal mining. This is a important moment for building a broad-coalition of resistance against Peabody. The camp is a collaborative effort of The Elders Circle […]

BIG MOUNTAIN SPRING TRAINING CAMP MAY 16th-23rd, 2014 BIG MOUNTAIN, DINEH NATION #Honor40Years #Not1MoreRELOCATION #KeepitintheGround “What we are trying to save—the Female Mountain—is alive. She is alive, she has blood flowing through her veins, which is the Navajo Aquifer, and the coal they are digging is Her liver. They are destroying Her.”–Marie Gladue, […]

View this email in your browser Sovereign Dineh Nation Survival School 2013 Last year, the SDN Survival School reconvened after a 20 year hiatus. This year, the revival continued! For two weekends in October—the 5-6th and the12-14th—there was an “intergenerational forum for the sharing of traditional and contemporary survival skills” hosted at a family’s hom […]

Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving Dinner pamphlet 2008 This is a zine from the Guelph Anarchist distro Mounting Bedlam Distro. It is from an annual dinner that where Anarchists host Indigenous folks to share their stories of resistance. It has spoken to me for along time sine i found a copy of it at the Taala Hooghan Infoshop. […]

Many of you may remember the recent victory of saving Quitovac to a proposed toxic waste dump. Well Again this Sacred site is under siege. Now to the threat of a gold mine… This is a Resolution from Traditional O’odham elders in opposition to the proposed mine that was recently posted from the O’odham Solidarity Project […]

The war against the Tohono O’odham continues near the border. See the latest technology the U.S. Government has deployed on the T.O. community in this article below: Homeland Security pitches new spy towers at Tohono O’odham BY: Brenda Norrell Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION — (Nov. 23, 2011) The US Homeland Security is […]

Resist ALEC this November in Scottsdale, AZ! AZ Resist alec! ARIZONA IS CALLING FOR A DIVERSITY OF TACTICS TO SHUT DOWN THE UPCOMING ALEC CONFERENCE IN SCOTTSDALE, AZ ON NOVEMBER 30TH. ALEC thinks they’re meeting in Scottsdale, AZ this November… The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a massive non-profit body that brings corporations and legisl […]

While preparing to to write my own short reflection on the current “occupy” movement I asked Ofelia Rivas if she would like to contribute to the zine as well. Here is her letter. This will also be in the new Don’t just (re)occupy zine. Thank you again so much for your contribution Ofelia! For more news […]

****This is a preview of a short article for a zine I am compiling in response to the current sweeping “occupy” movement. The zine will be released soon…. WHY (RE)OCCUPYING WON’T WORK…. September 17, 2011 hundreds of people answer a call-out from Adbusters maga- zine to “occupy” Wall Street. Today October 14, 2011 less than […]

We are please to announce the creation of the group named THE INDIGENOUS SOLIDARITY NETWORK. *See the About tab above and links section to the right. An inspiring video: (rights reserved to the creator)

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the highest judicial body of the Organization of American States (OAS), reached a decision in favor of eight Mapuche individuals who claimed that Chile’s use of the Anti-Terrorism Law against them violated their rights. … Continue reading →

Published yesterday in the Santiago Times, the Chilean Congress has voted to bring Chile’s Minister of the Interior, Rodrigo Peñailillo, in for formal questioning on the current administration’s handling (since taking over in March) of the ongoing Mapuche conflict in the … Continue reading →

A team of Chilean researchers has recently published a report on the mental health of Aymara schoolchildren in Northern Chile, suggesting that involvement with their culture may act as a protective factor against psychological distress, including anxiety and hopelessness. The … Continue reading →

It was reported yesterday (01-15-2015) in Mapuexpress that the Mapuche-Huilliche Community of Wente Caulín was granted rights over coastal waters in Chiloé. Specifically, the coastal area near the community was designated an “Indigenous Peoples’ Marine Coastal Area” under Chilean law, which grants the community … Continue reading →

In recent days, the Chilean government, through CONADI (Chile’s Indigenous development corporation) has returned title to lands in two different Mapuche communities. In the Mapuche community of Manuel Levinao (located in the Lautaro commune of the Araucanía region), 250 hectares … Continue reading →

The United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) completed its 83rd session on August 30th in Geneva. During the session, CERD discussed Chile’s treatment of Indigenous peoples and offered some recommendations for the future. Specifically, CERD asked … Continue reading →

Barrick Gold, owner of the Pascua Lama mine that spans the Chile-Argentina border, appeared in front of a Chilean court again on Monday, August 26th. This time, however, the multi-billion dollar corporation admitted that it had violated environmental regulations in … Continue reading →

On Monday, June 24, 2013, Pope Francis spent 45 minutes meeting and talking with the leader of the Qom community, Félix Diaz about his community’s struggles to have their rights recognized. During the interaction, Diaz discussed the plight of his … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, May 29th, the Chilean police force unveiled a test project designed to improve relations between the police force and the Mapuche people — a relationship that, in certain parts of Chile, has involved significant amounts of violence. The … Continue reading →

The Pascua Lama gold mine — owned by Barrick Gold — was ordered shut down earlier this year when a Diaguita community successfully challenged the mine’s environmental record in Chilean court. Ultimately, the company was fined US$16 million and ordered … Continue reading →

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the outbreak of the Uprising at Kanehsatà:ke by warriors of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation, otherwise known at the Oka Crisis. In memory of their courage, the following article was penned by Enaemaehkiw Thupaq Kesīqnaeh. This land is ours, ours as a heritage given to us as a sacred legacy. It … Continue reading The Uprising at […]

The following article was penned by Michael Toledano and appeared on Vice News. As the Harper government’s Bill C-51 moves to extend anti-terrorism legislation to include anyone who interferes with the “critical infrastructure,” “territorial integrity,” or “economic and financial stability of Canada,” a leaked report from the RCMP’s Critical Infrastructure I […]

Despite being continents apart, the struggles of the Kurds and Zapatistas share a similar purpose: to resist capitalism, liberate women and build autonomy. Petar Stanchev is finishing a degree in Latin American Studies and Human Rights at the University of Essex. He has previously lived and studied in Mexico and has been involved in the Zapatista … Continue […]

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. JULY 20, 2015. Joe Norton in the European created position of “grand chief of the Mohawk” at Kahnawake, should look at what he serves. The Queen, Queen Mother, her sister and Prince Edward … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. July 16th 2015. Nia:wen to our readers in Ohontsakaionen [old land] who see our solution as theirs too. This is their letter. “Resistance 71 is a French and English speaking collective [in Europe] created … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. July 13, 2015. The Canadian Army sent their “special ops” into Kahnawake to march in the Grand Opening of the Echoes of a Proud Nation Pow Wow. July 11, 2015, is the 25th … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. JULY 12, 2015. At the dawn tobacco burning in the Pines of Kahehsatake, a vow was reaffirmed that we would always protect our mother. In 1990 our land, nursed to beauty, as is our … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. 10 July 2015. A meeting of those of us clients dropped by the lawyers, the lawyers for the other ongwe’hon:weh, the NYS Attorney General’s office, met at G. Nugent’s office [not the INDIAN … Continue reading →

Please post and distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. July 5, 2015. The colony of Canada forbade the Potlach ceremony from 1885 to 1951. 45 people were arrested at Memkumlis. 20 men and women were sent to Oakalla Prison in BC for … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. MNN. July 4, 2015. The Great Peace showed that we are not independent unless we understand how we are dependent and how we can come to one mind. July 4th is a religious day to … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. JULY 2, 2015. All those who took an oath to the CROWN are guilty of genocide of ongwe’hon:weh. All the wrongs to us and our mother have to be made completely right to … Continue reading →

Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. July 1, 2015. Military planes and weaponry, monuments to war and RCMP recruiting youth at the “musical ride” to join them in the killing spree. Their theme is to celebrate the genocidal theft … Continue reading →

Five Key Indigenous Peoples Issues For The Week Of March 29 - April 7, 2014: United States, Paraguay, Belize, Philippines, Bangladesh United States: Final Conclusions And Recommendations On United States Issued By The UN Human Rights Committee Call For Measures To Protect Sacred Areas On Friday, March 28, 2014, the 110th session of the United Nations (UN) Hu […]

Maranhão: Port Development Brings Progress To Brazil – At A Price Mario Osava, 2014 “We are victims of progress,” complained Osmar Santos Coelho, known as Santico. His fishing community has disappeared, displaced to make way for a port complex on São Marcos bay, to the west of São Luis, the capital of the state of Maranhão in Brazil’s northeast. The Ponta da […]

United States: Final Conclusions And Recommendations On United States Issued By The UN Human Rights Committee Call For Measures To Protect Sacred Areas On Friday, March 28, 2014, the 110th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (HRC) issued its Concluding Observations on the United States (US) compliance with the International Covenant on […]

Northern Territory: Indigenous People Core To Success In Northern Development Push Policies for northern development must account for the realities of the extensive marginally productive lands of the north found outside of the major urban centres, according to NAILSMA’s recent submission to the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia. Key to this is ful […]

West Papua: Grave Human Rights Abuses In Papua Must Be Considered By Courts Of Law Statement by Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive-Director of LP3BP on 7 April 2014 Speaking as a human rights defender working in the Land of Papua, I urge the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta to immediately investigate the maltreatment and torture by me […]

Paraguay: Mysterious Epidemic Kills Recently-Contacted Tribe One By One A mysterious epidemic is steadily killing recently-contacted members of a South American tribe, Survival International has warned on World Health Day (April 7). Members of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode tribe in Paraguay are rapidly succumbing to a TB-like illness which goes undetected in medi […]

Belize: SATIIM And Indigenous Peoples - Another Legal Victory Free Prior and Informed Consent – A must in Belize SATIIM, the foremost environmental and human right organization in Belize along with four indigenous Q’eqchi’ Maya communities have achieved another monumental legal victory yesterday. The Belize Supreme Court Justice, The Honourable Michelle Aran […]

Philippines: Justice For William Bugatti - Tuwali Indigenous Rights Worker Killed We are enraged over the extrajudicial killing of William Bugatti, a Tuwali and a devoted human rights worker on March 25, 2014, at around 6-7 in the evening. William is a Regional Council Member of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance-KARAPATAN, a Regional Council Member of the […]

Bangladesh: Indigenous Women Representatives Attend The CSW58 As A Part Of Global Indigenous Leaders The fifty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2014. Like each year, this year thousands of civil society activists, representatives of member states, UN […]

Ecuador: Judge Kaplan Let Chevron Make "Mockery Of Justice" In New York RICO Case A new report concludes Chevron made a “mockery of justice” and bribed a witness during its retaliatory RICO case in New York, leading to a likely reversal by U.S. appellate courts and a growing risk for the oil giant in jurisdictions where the villagers are trying […]

Guatemala: International Solidarity With Victims Of Hudbay Minerals-CGN As Criminal Trial Against Former Head Of Security Is Delayed Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ victims of a September 2009 violent attack outside a then-Canadian owned nickel mine were once again disheartened when it was announced today that the criminal trial of Mynor Padilla, former head of sec […]

Oaxaca: On Mexican Isthmus, Indigenous Communities Oppose Massive Energy Projects - Statement From Indigenous Communities Santiago Navarro, 2014 The wind corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, stretching across the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz, is one of the most important in Latin America in terms of corporate investment […]

Australia: Next Step Towards Indigenous Constitutional Recognition The Australian Government has established a panel to conduct a review into public support for Indigenous constitutional recognition. Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, announced the review today, in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Ac […]

Five Key Indigenous Peoples Issues For The Week Of March 20 - 28, 2014: Canada, Melanesia, Belize, Bangladesh, West Papua Canada: Kawacatoose First Nation Becomes First Community To Take Full Control Over Its Land And Resource Moneys Opting into legislation removes Indian Act restrictions, enabling First Nations to act faster on economic opportunities Aborig […]

Belize: Correcting The Corporate Ignorance Of US Capital On The Maya Land Rights Struggle On March 27th, 2014, US Capital through its attorney Michael Peyrefitte gave an interview to the various media houses where he boldly stated with certainty that, ‘The only time this matter [US Capital oil activities] was brought to court was when there was an issue as t […]

Ontario: Major Lumber Company Vows To Avoid Grassy Narrows Conflict Wood EACOM Timber Corporation has committed not to use conflict wood from Grassy Narrows First Nation Territory, home of Canada's longest running Indigenous logging blockade. The promise comes just one week before Ontario's contentious new ten-year clearcut logging plan for Grassy […]

Philippines: With Escalation Of Political Killings, Karapatan Demands BS Aquino Step Down "Karapatan strongly demands that Pres. Noynoy Aquino steps down from office for his administration’s accountability for the 169 victims of extra-judicial killings, from July 2010 to December 2013, and for the 19 killed for this year alone, including the killing of […]

by Damon Sajnani Scholars routinely recognize HipHop’s political potential but this relation is commonly construed as incidental rather than definitive. Others have gestured to the colonization of HipHop in reference to the way minstrel stereotypes have replaced Afrocentric consciousness as the dominant theme in major label U.S. rap recordings post-1992. How […]

by Mahlikah Awe:ri It’s 9 am on a Saturday morning and I am standing in front of 150 Indigenous young leaders from across the province who have gathered for the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centre’s Youth Forum. Red Slam Collective affiliate, Joseph J-Rebel Hersco (Supernaturalz Crew), and myself have been commandeered to motivate our […] […]

by Lindsay Knight Hip hop music has begun to transform the ways in which young Indigenous people perceive their environments and assert their identities. Examples of resistance in Indigenous music can easily be discovered through hip hop. Without easy access to land and rural communities, urban Indigenous people often have limited exposure to ceremonial ways […]

by Chandni Desai Settler colonial societies use national mythologies to erase the genocidal history that lead to a settler nation’s founding. These national mythologies are profoundly racialized and spatialized stories. Sherene Razack (2002) argues that “although the spatial story that is told varies from one time to another, at each stage the story installs […]

by Mark V. Campbell Recently I was invited to DJ the afterparty of a symposium at Queen’s University, called Colonial Intimacies: Remapping the Relationships between Black and Indigenous Communities. A boldly conceived and welcomed conversation, the Better Futures Collective developed a symposium to address the “academic, activist, and creative conversations […]

by Bryce Henson Indigenous cultures are symbolically constructed in a pre-Columbus past as a mechanism to produce an essentialist notion of Indigenous peoples, who majestically vanish upon contact into the contemporary moment. While it was recognized that the United States of America was previously inhabited by Indigenous peoples, European contact and coloni […]

by Frank Waln Something reflected the soft light from the setting sun right into my eye as I walked along the reservation gravel road with my mother one evening. Many evenings were spent this way, my mother and I, walking in our small rural community of He Dog on the Rosebud Reservation located in south […]

by Susan Blight Place and space have been key themes in hip-hop culture since its inception. Within the art of emceeing, place refers to locality–specifically, where you’re from–and in contemporary hip-hop the articulation of place has become more and more localized (region or coast becomes city, city becomes hood or borough). A more abstract notion, […] […]

by Jenell Navarro For the past three years, I have taught a course in my department titled “Ethnic Studies 310: Hip-Hop, Politics and Poetics.” This class, a favorite of mine to teach, always generates interesting responses when we discuss Native hip-hop. Since the university I teach for is located in California, I have many students […]

by BRENT JANG, The Globe and Mail, July 31, 2015 Engineering firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is teaming up with a firm co-owned by a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations for preliminary work on a proposed B.C. oil refinery. A-in-Chut Business Group, jointly owned by Shawn Atleo, has formed a partnership with […]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DVroNnRZBCc“> by Kanahus Manuel, posted to Youtube Aug 1, 2015 To Secwepemc the Water is Sacred, the Salmon are Sacred. The massive Mount Polley mining disaster that happened at Yuct Ne Senxiymetkwe, unceded Secwepemc Territory (near Likely, BC) will continue to impact both the water and salmon for thousands of years. Imperia […]

By Tara Kulash, The Oregonian/OregonLive, July 31, 2015 Weird things are happening off the Pacific Coast. And at the center of the action is a warm-water mass that scientists call “the blob.” It’s turning the coastal ecosystem on its head. Species are dying along Washington, Oregon and northern California: sea stars, marine birds and sardines, […]

By Wendy Osher, MauiNow.com, July 31, 2015 In a show of solidarity against further development atop Haleakalā, demonstrators on Maui secured themselves in rows and bound their arms to others in a human chain across the pavement, in an attempt to block a planned convoy of vehicles scheduled to deliver equipment to the Daniel K […]

Christopher Curtis, Montreal Gazette, July 30, 2015 TransCanada has quietly been meeting with First Nations leaders ahead of its Energy East pipeline project, signing 32 “capacity funding agreements” with aboriginal communities in the past two years. Through these agreements, the energy firm donates money to a reserve and, in return, gets to pitch its $12 [… […]

by David Ferguson, Raw Story, July 28, 2015 The deaths in police custody of women like Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd have drawn national attention to the potentially lethal threats posed to women of color by racist police. On Tuesday, Indian Country Today reporter Sarah Sunshine Manning wrote about the July 6 death of a […]

by Larissa Burnouf, APTN National News, July 28, 2015 YORKTON, SASK — A First Nations woman has won an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount of money against the Yorkton RCMP for mistreatment following her arrest more than three years ago. Ethel Pelly, 42, was arrested and charged with a drug offence in February 2012 […]

Only 18,000 sockeye expected to return to B.C.’s South Okanagan CBC News, July 28, 2015 A potentially catastrophic collapse of the sockeye salmon run is unfolding on the Columbia River system this year. Scientists once predicted that about 100,000 sockeye would return to spawning grounds in the rivers and streams in British Columbia’s South Okanagan […] […]

Originally posted on Dandelion Salad:Image by Tommy Miles via Flickr Dandelion Salad by Elizabeth Schulte socialistworker.org July 9, 2015 What did the man who Bernie Sanders today claims as his personal hero really stand for? Elizabeth Schulte tells the story of American socialism’s best-known figure. IT’S NOT your typical presidential candidate who identif […]

This, it went on, is not the case in the ‘less fortunate’ countries of the world (which included India, Sudan, South Africa, and a few other Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries). British women may face violence, Cosmo continued, ‘but we are not dismissed or ignored by the government that is there to protect us […]

Originally posted on APNS Public Radyo:Summary: TheAngryindian speaks on the circular-trap of allowing anger and frustration to confuse and diffuse the pragmatic solutions we are all seeking to the collective neo-Colonial / neo-Liberal problems Indigenous, African and Spanish-speaking Peoples still face in the modern United States of (North) America. Listen […]

“The reason I’m making this is, in the event that something happens to me, there’s evidence I’m in Afghanistan working as a contractor for the CIA,” he says quietly in the shaky video, stealing glances around him. “I don’t feel it’s very safe for me to be here. I don’t feel like I can work […]

Originally posted on [Modern Times]:“Is this your car?”: Like Sandra Bland, I confronted an officer who pulled me over for driving while black – Salon.com – When he returned to the driver’s window, I calmly informed the cop that he was making me late for work. He smirked. I asked if I could exit…

Originally posted on RED POWER MEDIA:Paul Castaway left, a citizen of the Lakota Nation, was shot and killed by police on July 12. Photo courtesy Facebook.com By Black Powder / Red Power Media Denver police caught telling key lies about their fatal shooting of Paul Castaway. On Sunday, July 12th, Castaway, a 35-year-old Native…

The Nuwaubians originated as a Black Muslim group in New York in the 1970s. Some beliefs held by this religion include: aborted fetuses living in the sewers, where they are being gathered and organized to take over the world… Africans not originally being brown in complexion but green.. amongst many others.But you’re thinking.. as long […]

This August 8th 2015 will mark 37 years now that our innocent family members have been unjustly imprisoned by Philadelphia and Pennsylvania officials for a crime that not only these officials but the world knows they did not commit . In 1998 and 2015 Two of our family members Merle Africa and Phil Africa Both […]

The Digital Firehose: Terrorism isn’t just for Muslims, but that doesn’t fit the mainstream narrative – I suspect there is a very interesting reason why this news trend doesn’t fit the narrative. If Muslims had been found to be burning black churches you can bet that would be news. Then whoever claimed responsibility would be […]

Originally posted on [Modern Times]:Sandra Bland’s Mother: “I’m Ready…This Means War” – Reed-Veal spoke at the end of the service and recounted a trip she and Bland took to Memphis, TN over the July Fourth weekend. She said Bland was excited about her upcoming job interview at Prairie View A&M. Reed-Veal said Bland told…

Update: Google admits sharp practice in Kenya | News | PC Pro: By Stewart MitchellPosted on 13 Jan 2012 at 16:00Google has admitted guilt after being accused of accessing the servers of a Kenyan business directory and trying to poach its customers.According to contacts compendium Mocality, it caught Google accessing its database of African businesses and the […]

Google 'improperly' accessed Kenyan rival Mocality's database | Technology | guardian.co.uk: Google has confessed that a number of people working for it "improperly" accessed the customer database of a rival company in Kenya to boost its own business.The US search giant said it was "mortified" to learn that staff illicitly […]

Google 'Improperly' Accessed Rival Mocality's Database | News & Opinion | PCMag.com: Google on Friday apologized for a scam in which its employees improperly accessed the database of Mocality, a Kenyan Internet database company, in order to steal its customers.In a statement, Nelson Matto, vice president for Google product and engineering […]

Shut Down the Corporations - Direct Action Resources Why Direct Action?The F29 Shut Down the Corporations National Day of Action is calling on activists across the country to engage in day of mass non-violent direct action. Direct action is a means of obstructing practices we protest and reclaiming our agency in creating the world we live in. Direct action m […]

Samson Cree bylaw interests Blood Tribe | Local News | Lethbridge Herald: Blood Tribe chief and council will be watching what happens in the wake of Samson Cree band members passing a bylaw that gives council the right to evict troublemakers.Under the bylaw, which still requires approval from the federal government, any 25 residents could apply to have anoth […]

Apple Releases List Of Its Suppliers, Discloses Labor Violations | TechCrunch:Apple has, for the very first time, released a report of its suppliers. There are 156 suppliers listed in the PDF the company published (available here), including big names like Sony, Intel, Samsung and Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.), which dragged Apple’s […]

BAHRAIN - News | Peter Clifford Online: This is the true face of Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa Government reflected in the destroyed features of Nader Abdul Enam, a young man who was shot in the mouth last night by police firing a stun grenade directly at his head.http://www.petercliffordonline.com/bahrain-newsNader Abdul Enam, Mutilated by the Government of BahrainN […]

Fact Sheet: Jean-Claude Duvalier Can Be Prosecuted | Open Society Justice Initiative | Open Society Foundations - OSF: Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former dictator of Haiti, returned to his country after 25 years in exile in France on January 16, 2011. He is currently under investigation for offenses including corruption, attempted murder and sequestration, or […]

Former SPD officer Ian Birk will not face charges in shooting of woodcarver | Seattle Times Newspaper: Federal prosecutors will not charge former Seattle police Officer Ian Birk in the shooting death of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams.Sources have confirmed that a grand jury reviewing the Aug. 30, 2010, shooting determined it could not charge the o […]

Israel's Draconian Infiltration Law :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1]: The new measure targets refugees and asylum seekers and families. Minimally, they'll be imprisoned for three years. However, detentions may be extended indefinitely.The law only allows judicial oversight by an adminis […]

PRC: Palestinian refugees in Iraq Should Be Protected :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1]: The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) in London is extremely concerned over the constant attacks against Palestinian Refugees in Iraq. The centre calls for an immediate protection for those refugees through the […]

Somalia: ICRC Suspends Food and Seed Distributions: By NewsfromAfricaMOGADISHU — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a statement to the media has decided to temporarily suspend its distributions intended for 1.1 million people in urgent need after having its food and seed relief commodities blocked in parts of central and southern Somalia. […]

I CARE - News - Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe: 11/1/2012- A court in the Czech town of Most has handed down a verdict in the matter of an attack that was committed against human rights activist Ondøej Cakl during a neo-Nazi demonstration in November 2008 in Litvínov. The court did not award compensation for damages. The convicted assailant, František Br […]

China Worker: Two-weeks imprisonment for protest action against MTR fare rises is part of government drive to criminalise struggleSocialist Action (CWI in Hong Kong) reportersThe verdict from Hong Kong’s Eastern Magistrates’ Court yesterday is an ominous warning to all those wanting to fight against the government’s neo-liberal and increasingly repressive ag […]

Estonia presses ahead with Nazi exoneration plans: Voice of Russia: Announcements in Estonia say next spring will see a nationwide debate about a draft law to declare the Estonian Nazi collaborators who fought alongside the Nazi SS heroic 'freedom fighters'.In the meantime, papers in Germany, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Tag […]

badil.orgIsrael’s High Court exposes Israeli apartheid regime13th January 2012 – BADIL Resource center for Palestinian residency and Refugee RightsOn 11th January 2012, Israel’s High Court rejected a legal challenge, brought by Adalah, ACRI and other Israeli human rights organizations, to one of the most obvious pieces of Israeli apartheid legislation: the 2 […]

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSESEver since the Indonesians set foot on Papuan soil, human rights abuses have been the rule of the day. In the antiquity or the dream time, the Indonesian quest had been Papuan slaves and the birds of paradise. Since 1962 however the quest has been for the rich mineral deposits [gold, copper, nickel, oil etc.], the vast virgin forest with i […]

Demands for Clegg to apologise for insulting Scottish voters: By a Newsnet reporterSNP MSPs have demanded that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg apologise for comments he made during a recent visit to Scotland when he characterised supporters of independence as "extremists".In an interview with the Scotsman newspaper, Mr Clegg was asked whether he describe […]

Over the last few months – as Peru helped guide the United Nations climate negotiations – five separate oil spills along a main oil pipeline through the Amazon have spewed thick black clots of crude across jungle and swamp and carpeted local fishing lagoons with dead fish.

Earlier this month, the world's eyes were on Lima as 196 nations debated what to do about climate change at the UN COP20 climate summit. While world leaders debated, negotiated, signed and didn't sign agreements, Amazon Watch and our allies sounded the alarm on the critical importance of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous ancestral territories in […]

This month's hearing before Canada's Supreme Court was Chevron's last appeal to try to stop a full enforcement trial. Chevron audaciously asked the court to ignore all precedent, and to change the law just for them.

After years of waiting for the Brazilian government to sort out their land rights, the 13,000 Munduruku Indians, who live beside the Tapajós river in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, have decided to take action. Besides temporarily occupying an office belonging to Funai, the Brazilian government's Indian agency, they have started to demarcate the boun […]

On the morning of December 5th, a dark piece of news began circulating at the U.N. climate talks in Lima: The body of José Isidro Tendetza Antún, a leading Ecuadorian indigenous-rights and anti-mining campaigner, had been found in a riverside grave near his village, his remains bound in rope, showing signs of beating and torture.

I walk a small path, surrounded by an infinite number of trees, plants and the scent of flowers. My lungs fill with pure, fresh air when I take a deep breath. My bare feet touch the ground, damp from yesterday's rain. This is my home. This is where I grew up. This is what I want to share with my children one day.

From the Amazon to the Andes, thousands of activists marched through the streets of Lima on Wednesday to demand a just solution to climate change. The march through the traffic-choked streets put a human face on the United Nations climate negotiations, a process largely confined to suited bureaucrats working behind the high walls of a military compound in a […]

Amazon Watch and indigenous allies joined thousands of marchers yesterday in defense of the rainforest and territorial rights and to demand that voices from the Amazon be heard at the United Nations COP20 climate negotiations.

Ottawa, Canada – Trying to make good on its promise of a "lifetime of litigation" to avoid paying for a clean-up of Ecuador's rainforest, Chevron will ask the Supreme Court of Canada this week to create a new jurisdictional hurdle that likely would close off the country's courts to indigenous communities seeking to enforce their $9.5 bill […]

"When we lose the Amazon, we not only create emissions, but we lose the climate stabilizing function of the forest," Amazon Watch founder Atossa Soltani told Democracy Now! at the "Women Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change" event hosted by WECAN around the UNFCCC COP20 climate summit currently taking place in Lima, Peru. […]

"[REDD gives] permits to pollute," Smithie told the Tribunal. "[It means] forests of the world acting as a sponge for northern industrial countries' pollution. They can pollute if they grab forests in the global south."

Yesterday hundreds of indigenous peoples from communities across the Amazon joined together on a beach in Lima, Peru to create a massive "human banner" image to promote awareness about territorial rights for indigenous peoples in the global climate conversation. Beneath the heat of the sun and to the sound of beating drums, indigenous peoples and a […]

A delegation from the environmental collective Yasunidos finally arrived to Lima, Peru today after a week of harassment and intimidation by Ecuadorian police and military that sought to prevent them from crossing the border to attend the COP20 climate conference, and thrust the Ecuadorian government's continued domestic crackdown on civil society critic […]

Together with our indigenous allies from the Amazon and NGO allies from the north and south, Amazon Watch is in Lima to highlight and expose major threats from a wave of egregious extractive and infrastructure projects planned for the Amazon.

"Brazil has been on a path of trying to bring down deforestation a lot," said Maira Irigaray, Brazil program coordinator for Amazon Watch. "But when it comes to the Amazon, those numbers are still huge." Amazon Watch and other groups say Brazil's decision to roll back laws limiting the clear cutting of forests been behind the rise in […]

Hundreds of indigenous people and supporters will form a gigantic "human banner" art work on the beach, creating an image symbolizing the important role of indigenous protection of the rainforest and natural resources.

A new study said indigenous lands were "protected natural areas" accounting for 55% of the carbon stored in the Amazon basin. It said this land was at risk because governments had failed to recognize or enforce indigenous land rights.